hybrid mandos

[Steve VandeWater]

There is a little music shop in Noblesville, Indiana called Center Stage Vintage Guitars. The owner, Kevin Heffernan, builds and repairs many types of stringed instruments. I stopped in the other day to see what he had on the wall.
I'm attaching a few pics I took there. Two of the photos show a hybrid mandolin/fiddle that he jokingly named a "Mandovarious". It is a mandolin neck attached to a fiddle body. I picked it a bit and it is a fun little thing to play.
Another pic shows a local girl playing one of Kevin's hybrid six string guitar/mandolins. This is a guitar neck on a mandolin body. Sounds like a mando but is easily played by a guitar player like Kevin. He has built and sold several of them.
The other couple of photos are not really mandolin related but are cool anyway. They are of a dieselpunk style guitar he built recently.
It's a very cool place to visit if you happen to be in Central Indiana.
On a downer note, last week someone stole a 1927 Gibson A out of his shop, so he has decided to stop hosting his monthly jam session. There is a posting describing that missing mando on the Indianapolis Craigslist. Please keep your eyes out if you are in this area or happen to see one pop up for sale on line.
127040127041127042127043127044

[JeffD]

I am curious about that mandovarious. I have thought of the same thing myself. Does it have any volume to it? Is it top heavy? Do you think its more of a curiosity than a full fledged musical instrument?

[Steve VandeWater]

It's hard to say. I am not very good on any kind of mando, so they always sound much better when someone else plays them. I personally liked it, and I think in more capable hands it would sound quite nice. Next time I'm in the store I will see if I can get a sound clip.
I think he made it as a sort of joke and the neck is heavy in proportion to the body, but it is certainly very playable.

[Jim Garber]

Cool and funky stuff. The mandovarious has been done before. This one prob from around the turn of the 19th-20th centuries from the JTL shop in France. They called it a violaline.

[hokelore]

I wonder, with the fiddle soundpost, if it would have much sustain. I'm tempted to drive up there and check it out, but my wife would want me to leave my wallet at home.

[Jim Garber]

I guess the question here is whether Kevin actually used a real violin body and, if so, whether he kept the soundpost or reworked the insides to be used as a mandolin. I would hope the latter. I believe that others have tried soundposts in mandolins and they just don't work. I believe that they actually dull the sound. The physics of a violin is completely different in terms of sound production.